golf clubs buying guide

Golf Clubs Buying Guide

Columbus Chinese Golf Club

2012

What You What You WWill ill KKnow now FFrom This Guiderom This Guide

• How many golf clubs do I

need for practicing?

• What are the most common

golf clubs people usually

have?

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• How to select a club?

• How much money will I put

in for buying clubs and

playing game?

• Where can I buy clubs?

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• A 7-iron would be a must for now as our beginner training starts with 7-iron and it is also the best starting club to learn the swing.

• It might not have to be 7-iron, if you are tall, you might practice with 6-iron. You can try them out and ask coaches to suggest the best for you to

How Many How Many GGolf Clubs Do I Need for Practicing?olf Clubs Do I Need for Practicing?CHINESE GOLF CLUB

and ask coaches to suggest the best for you to practice.

• After several weeks’ training, you might consider getting at least a partial iron set (mainly 5-iron to pitching wedge) and a putter since you will have the first experience in real course during our club outing around the end of April. COLUMBUSCHINESE GOLF CLUB

According to the USGA, the maximum number of clubs you can have in a game is 14. A combination for this set is really personal but here is a common example:

What What Are the Most Common Golf Clubs In a Set?Are the Most Common Golf Clubs In a Set?CHINESE GOLF CLUB

• One Driver – with loft angle from 12.5 degree to 9 degree, used to drive ball to the furthest distance

• One Partial Iron Set – from pitching wedge (pw), 9-iron to 5-iron, used for mid to short range shots

• Two Hybrids – 3 & 5 hybrids (usually 3 and 4 irons


• Two Hybrids – 3 & 5 hybrids (usually 3 and 4 irons are rarely used, hybrids are used to replace them.)

• Two fairway woods – 3 woods & 5 woods, used for long-range shot

• Two wedges – sand wedge and lob wedge or gap wedge, used for short or specialized shots like out of

rough or bunker.

• One Putter – used only on the green

As a beginner, getting a half set might not be a bad idea for saving money, which could include different combinations, for example, six irons (5 ~ 9 iron and pitching wedge), a driver and a putter.

How to Select A Club?How to Select A Club?CHINESE GOLF CLUB

• Shaft Flex (R, S, X, A, L)Shaft flex refers to the ability of a golf shaft to bend during the golf swing and it does matter a lot during your hit. There are usually five ratings for shaft flex:

o Regular flex (R)

o Stiff flex (S),

o Ex-stiff flex (X)

o Senior (A)

o Ladies (L).


o Ladies (L).

The selection of flex depends on your swing speed but for a beginner, Regular Flex is highly recommended.

• Shaft Material (Steel or Graphite)As a general rule, Men should play steel shafted irons and graphite shafted woods and Ladies or seniors should play graphite shafted irons and woods.

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How to Select A Club?How to Select A Club?

• Shaft Length (Standard or Custom)Most golfers use standard length clubs. If you are considerably taller or shorter than the average or your arms are longer or shorter than the average, you may want to consider getting custom-length* clubs to suit you height.

Generally, the longer the club, the more head speed it can generate, resulting in more distance, while the downside is the difficulty to control.


Similarly, in a regular set, club length increases with the club number decreasing from 9 to 1. So the control of a driver (club #1) will be definitely harder than 7-irons.

*If you need your irons shortened, most retailers can do this in the store; if you need them lengthened, you will probably have to special order longer clubs from the factory.

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• Club Head (Cavity or Muscle backed, Cast or Forged)For beginners, you might want to select the 'heel-and-toe' (or, perimeter-weighted) club head design, cavity backed (hollowed out in the back) and over-sized golf club. The main reason is because bigger club heads are more forgiving with enlarged 'sweet spot' that can produce maximum distance even with off-center contacts. Here are some terms you might hear during club shopping:

Cavity backed Cavity backed vsvs Muscle backedMuscle backed

MuscleMuscle--back and cavityback and cavity--back refer to the way the back of the iron is back refer to the way the back of the iron is shaped. shaped. MuscleMuscle--back back irons (the left irons (the left one) one) are solid chunks of metal while are solid chunks of metal while


shaped. shaped. MuscleMuscle--back back irons (the left irons (the left one) one) are solid chunks of metal while are solid chunks of metal while cavitycavity--back irons literally have a cavity dug (the right back irons literally have a cavity dug (the right one) one) into the back into the back of the club. of the club. Generally Generally speaking, cavityspeaking, cavity--back irons will create higher, longer back irons will create higher, longer and straighter shots on and straighter shots on mishit. mishit. On the other hand, muscleOn the other hand, muscle--back irons back irons provide more workability (the ability to draw and fade the ball) but are provide more workability (the ability to draw and fade the ball) but are also virtually impossible to hit consistently. also virtually impossible to hit consistently.

As a As a beginner, in a considerably long time, beginner, in a considerably long time, cavitycavity--back back will will always be your best choicealways be your best choice..

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• Club HeadFor beginners, you might want to select the 'heel-and-toe' (or, perimeter-weighted) club head design, cavity backed (hollowed out in the back) and over-sized golf club. The main reason is because bigger club heads are more forgiving with enlarged 'sweet spot' that can produce maximum distance even with off-center contacts. Here are some terms you might hear during club shopping:

Cast Cast vsvs ForgedForgedCast head and forged head are made by different manufacturing process and the Cast head and forged head are made by different manufacturing process and the


Cast head and forged head are made by different manufacturing process and the Cast head and forged head are made by different manufacturing process and the majority, about 90%, of golf clubs is made by casting. majority, about 90%, of golf clubs is made by casting. For beginners, there is really no For beginners, there is really no differencedifference between them but cast irons tend to be harder, forged irons softer. If you like between them but cast irons tend to be harder, forged irons softer. If you like a harder feel at impact, go with cast. If you like a softer, sweeter feel, go with forged. a harder feel at impact, go with cast. If you like a softer, sweeter feel, go with forged.

Cast Head Forged Head

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• Player’s Club, Game-improvement Club or Super Game-improvement Club

Most of golf equipment manufactures make the 3 different categories golf clubs, which are super-game improvement, game improvement, and players. The distinction between them is more related to the design of club head.

Player’s irons (the right one below) tend to have shallower cavity-backs, narrow soles, a thinner top line and they tend to be smaller. The sleek, no frills look and feel of a player’s iron gives more

Game-improvement irons or Super Game-improvement irons (the left one below) are designed for most of us. They tend to have large club heads and a thicker top line. The larger head creates more stability and a larger sweet


For beginners, “game-improvement clubs” and “super-game improvement clubs” are highly recommended. Sometimes this information is included in the spec for each club but most likely if you follow our previous recommendation on bigger club head, you are getting the right category or you can also search onwww.golfdigest.com and find which clubs are game-improvement.

look and feel of a player’s iron gives more workability but less forgiveness.

head creates more stability and a larger sweet spot, which means more forgiveness on mishit.

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• Lie AngleThe lie angle of an iron is the angle made between the ground and the club shaft when the sole of the club rests flat on the ground (as if you were addressing the ball). When this angle is smaller, the lie angle is said to be “flatter”. When this angle is larger, the lie angle is said to be “more upright”.

Longer clubs are flatter and shorter clubs are more upright. Every set of irons will have a stand lie angle for


upright. Every set of irons will have a stand lie angle for each iron in the set, usually ranging from 59 or 60 degrees to around 64 degrees.

Getting the lie angle right is crucial to making solid contact and hitting the ball straight (Most retail stores can do a lie angle fitting at no extra cost and typical adjustments range from 0.5 degrees to 2 degrees (flatter or more upright).

If the lie angle is too flat for your swing, you will get toe-heavy divots and your shots will tend to fly right of the target.

If the lie angle is too upright, you will get heel-heaving divots, the ball will impact too low on the face and the shots will tend to fly left of the target.

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“Loft”, or, “loft angle”, is the angle at which the face of the club lies relative to a perfectly vertical face represented by the shaft. Loft gives you an idea of how far ball will go and the type of trajectory it will have. Drivers are the least lofted clubs (not counting putters), while wedges are the most-lofted.

• Loft Angle


most-lofted.

The more loft a club has, the higher the trajectory on which the golf ball will travel, and the shorter the distance the ball will travel. Driver lofts for most players run between 9 and 12.5 degrees, and greater than 10.5 degrees is recommended for beginners. Clubs increase in loft through the set until reaching the lob wedge, which usually lofted from 60 to 64 degrees.

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• Is any difference between men’s

club and ladies’?

Yes. Men’s club is designed to be relatively heavierthan ladies’, so if you are a lady, playing with men’sclub might make your game harder.


• BrandFor beginners, most brands are pretty much equallygood but eventually which brand you will go withdepends on your budget. As a beginner, you canconsider buying a good quality set with $200 ~$1000. Popular brands include TaylorMade, Callaway,Ping ,Titleist, Cleveland, Srixon, and Adams

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How Much Will I Put in?How Much Will I Put in?

This is a very personal matter and depends on your financial situation. But as a beginner, you might consider buying some relatively low-cost new or used clubs and upgrade your sets after you become more experienced. And here is a very rough estimate for the expense (these prices mainly for new ones):

• 7-iron: $50 ~ $200

• A driver: $80 ~ $500

• A putter or wedge: $ 20 ~ $200

• An iron set: $ 140 ~ $1000


• An iron set: $ 140 ~ $1000

• A set of golf club: $200 - $2,000

• A golf bag: $30 - $500

• A golf glove: $5 - $30

• A pair of golf shoes: $30 - $300

• Some golf balls: $1/piece - $5/piece (Walmart has used balls for around 48 for $18.)

• A repair divot tool: $5 (optional)

• Some collar shirts: $ 20/each - $150/each (optional)

• Some pants: $20/each - $1000/each (optional)

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Where Can I Buy Clubs?Where Can I Buy Clubs?

• Local Stores

• MC Sports (Columbus, close to Target on US31)

• Wal-Mart (Columbus)

• Green Belt Club House (Columbus)

• Otter Creek Club House (Columbus)

Most time we would recommend that you shop in store so you can do some swings and have a feel about the club. But once you know what kinds of clubs you prefer, there are also hundreds of online vendors and here are some examples you can start with:

• Dick’s (in Greenwood)

• Golf Smith (Indy)

• Golf Galaxy (Indy)


• Online Vendors

www.RockBottomGolf.com www.3Balls.com

www.DicksSportingGoods.com www.Austads.com

www.GolfSmith.com www.TheWorldOfGolf.com

www.TGW.com www.Golfio.com

www.GolfGalaxy.com www.GolfCow.com

www.GolfDiscount.com www.GolfBalls.com

www.GlobalGolf.com www.EdwinWatts.com